Scary Stories For A Rainy Night - Ep. 197 - A Smile In The Dark

Summary

Podcast Summary: Scary Stories and Rain Episode: Scary Stories For A Rainy Night - Ep. 197 - A Smile In The Dark
Host/Author: Being Scared
Release Date: August 14, 2025

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Scary Stories and Rain, hosted by Being Scared, presents true and chilling accounts set against the soothing backdrop of steady rainfall. Episode 197, titled A Smile In The Dark, weaves multiple eerie narratives that delve into personal traumas, unexplained phenomena, and unsettling encounters. Below is a detailed summary capturing the key points, discussions, insights, and conclusions from the episode.

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1. Dean's Father's Tragic Accident at the Quarry

Timestamp: [00:42] - [07:55]

Dean recounts a harrowing story from the late 1960s when his father, Dean, was a young boy growing up in a rural Canadian town. The family, grappling with poverty, often left the children unsupervised, leading to frequent misadventures.

On a warm summer evening, Dean and his three friends—Thomas, Will, and Jason—decided to play at a local quarry. Thomas, the oldest, suggested climbing the tallest sand dune. During one of their playful slides, an unexpected avalanche of heavy sand engulfed the boys:

Thomas: "Their cheers turned into screams of horror."
Narrator: "With Thomas came an avalanche of heavy sand engulfing the three boys entirely." [02:37]

Thomas survived by landing at the bottom but found his friends buried alive. Desperate, he sought help from Dean, who rushed home only to be dismissed by his parents. Undeterred, Dean returned to the quarry to find authorities already present, but tragically, Will and Jason were declared deceased. This traumatic event left Dean without the necessary support, leading to ongoing struggles with loss and a lack of closure.

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2. Dean's Nighttime Walk and the Mysterious Chase

Timestamp: [05:03] - [14:40]

In another spine-chilling tale, Dean describes an unsettling experience during a nighttime walk. Seeking solitude, he ventured up a hill near his home but soon found himself in near darkness with his phone’s flashlight dwindling:

Dean: "I thought the person might be trying to get my attention, so I waited at the top for them to catch up to me." [05:52]

A mysterious figure with frizzy dark hair, a heavy coat despite the warm weather, and an eerie humming sound began to approach. As fear set in, Dean attempted to escape, leading to a frantic chase through dimly lit trails and shadowed landscapes. Although the pursuer eventually fell, Dean's fear persisted, reinforced by the absence of any tangible evidence and his parents’ disbelief of his ordeal.

Dean: "Now I refuse to walk alone at night and I highly recommend that you don't either." [07:57]

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3. Mail Carrier's Strange Encounters in California

Timestamp: [14:26] - [27:18]

Dean transitions to a narrative about a mail carrier in California facing numerous unsettling encounters on his delivery route. Amidst the picturesque suburban neighborhoods, the mail carrier frequently interacts with an elderly neighbor, Mrs. Lythgoe, who reports strange activities at a recently purchased house.

The mail carrier shares eerie incidents, such as:

• Blood-Leaking Bag: While delivering a stack of packages, he accidentally kicked a garbage bag containing a blood-filled jar and a creepy doll, which emanated a foul smell. Despite wanting to report it, fear held him back.

Dean: "I thought about calling the police, but honestly I was afraid to, so I talked myself out of it." [10:25]

• Strange Residents: The homeowners appear reclusive, with odd behaviors like screaming and billowing pink smoke from the house. A particularly disturbing encounter involved a stocky man in a spandex suit wielding a weapon.

Dean: "As I raced down the driveway and back into my truck, I could now fully see the man holding his weapon yelling I kill." [14:26]

Despite reporting these incidents, the mail carrier receives little support from his supervisor, intensifying his distress and skepticism about the supernatural elements at play.

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4. Encounter with "The Beast" and Corrupted GoPro Footage

Timestamp: [27:34] - [33:57]

In a tale blending technology and the unknown, Dean narrates an experience of witnessing the Boeing X37B Orbital Test Vehicle. Setting up his lawn chair for stargazing, he observes a glowing orb moving swiftly across the sky, which he believes to be the craft mentioned online.

Mere moments later, his GoPro camera, unintentionally left recording, captures a large dark silhouette approaching his truck. The figure, resembling an 8-foot-tall animal with glowing red eyes, manifests briefly before disappearing. When Dean attempts to review the footage, it appears corrupted, erasing any proof of the encounter.

Dean: "I firmly believe that no technical error with my GoPro could have possibly turned it on at that exact right moment to capture the Beast." [22:26]

This incident leaves Dean convinced of a malevolent presence intent on preventing him from revealing the truth.

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5. Sleep Paralysis and the Vision of Scar

Timestamp: [22:55] - [26:34]

Dean delves into a personal nightmare involving sleep paralysis. After a seemingly normal evening with his boyfriend, Dean experiences vivid hallucinations as he drifts into sleep. A menacing figure resembling Scar from The Lion King appears in his bedroom, delivering a cryptic message before Dean jolts awake to his mother's concerned call.

Dean: "Scar has only come back twice since I have moved and sometimes randomly I can still hear the flick of his nail." [27:18]

This recurrent vision blurs the lines between reality and fear, leaving Dean with lingering anxiety and vivid nightmares.

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6. Childhood Encounter at the All-You-Can-Eat Buffet

Timestamp: [27:34] - [33:57]

In a climactic return to Dean's early years, he recounts a terrifying incident from his childhood at a local buffet. While at lunch with family and friends, two seemingly friendly women approach their table, presenting gifts purportedly from "Princess Kate." The situation takes a sinister turn as the women lead Dean and his grandfather to a white van under the guise of bestowing them with "gifts."

Upon reaching the van, the leader brandishes a real sword and initiates a bizarre ceremony of knighting them as "Knights of God." Despite the initial fear, the ceremony concludes without violence, leaving Dean and his grandfather to ponder the true intentions of the women.

Dean: "Was I knighted by a murderer?" [33:57]

This unsettling experience raises questions about the nature of the women and whether their actions were part of a larger, more ominous plan.

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Conclusion

Episode 197 of Scary Stories and Rain masterfully intertwines multiple chilling narratives, each exploring themes of fear, the supernatural, and the unknown. Through personal anecdotes and eerie encounters, the episode emphasizes the thin veil between everyday life and the inexplicable horrors that lurk just beyond perception. Notable quotes, such as Dean's reflections on safety and skepticism, deepen the listener's engagement, making the stories both relatable and spine-tingling.

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For more chilling tales, download the CHILLING app here.

Transcript

[Host]

Hey, welcome to Scary Stories and Rain. I just want to remind you that there's only about three weeks left of this Nintendo Switch 2 giveaway, and to be honest, I'm not really sure when I'm going to be able to get another one. I stood in line for about seven hours waiting to get this one and it's going to go to one of my very lucky podcast subscribers. And so I just wanted to remind you that if you want to be automatically entered to win, you can become a subscriber today for only 299.

[Dean]

It'll get rid of all of the.

[Host]

Ads across my entire library of episodes and and I might be emailing you about where to send your Nintendo Switch 2 bundle. Please don't miss out. I will try to get another one, but I don't know when that'll be. As always, thank you so much for listening and I really appreciate you being here.

[Dean]

I hope you enjoy the following events happened to my father in the late 60s when he was about 7 or 8 years old. I have changed the names for privacy.

[Narrator]

Growing up in a rural Canadian town.

[Dean]

To a poor family, my father, Dean and his siblings never had much in the way of entertainment. Often left unsupervised were all too frequently.

[Narrator]

Left to their own devices, giving them ample opportunity to indulge in interesting and sometimes dangerous activities. After accumulating several injuries this way, rather than putting their foot down, Dean's parents chose a more hands off approach.

[Dean]

The children's misadventures became all too easy to ignore completely.

[Narrator]

On a warm summer evening, the sun still burning high in the sky, Dean found himself wandering the neighborhood with three.

[Dean]

Of his good friends who lived nearby.

[Narrator]

Spending most of the day roughhousing and pulling pranks. The group of kids decided their fun just wasn't over yet and brainstormed on where to play next. One of Dean's friends, Thomas, suggested they go play in the local quarry as there were plenty of boulders and sand dunes to climb on. Being a year or so older than the other boys, Thomas ideas always seemed like good ones and so they all headed out to the big pit. Upon arriving at the quarry, dunes upon.

[Dean]

Dunes of sand loomed over them and.

[Narrator]

The group of kids headed straight for the tallest one. They all took turns climbing up and sliding down through the sand. They were having what seemed like innocent fun and had no idea their fun was about to quickly come to a terrifying end. Atop the dune, Thomas readied himself to slide down to his friends waiting below. Dean and the other two boys, Will and Jason, sat on the lower part of the dune, cheering on Thomas.

[Dean]

But as he began to slide the.

[Narrator]

Their cheers turned into screams of horror. With Thomas came an avalanche of heavy sand engulfing the three boys entirely. Unable to stop, Thomas rode the wave of sand to the bottom of the dune and quickly realized that his friends.

[Dean]

Were all buried alive in its wake.

[Narrator]

Frantically, Thomas started digging through the sand.

[Dean]

A minute passed before he could hear.

[Narrator]

A faint voice from beneath the dirt. He clawed and clawed until he eventually uncovered Dean. Out of breath and pale as a ghost. Having been sat higher up on the dune than his two friends, Dean had been fairly close to the surface. After the avalanche, the two continued to dig randomly, not knowing where or how.

[Dean]

Deep Will and Jason were in the pile of sand.

[Narrator]

Realizing the severity of the situation, they knew they needed help. They separated, each running home as fast as they could. Dean burst through the door of his house yelling to his parents that his friends were buried in the quarry and that he desperately, desperately needed help digging them out. Covered head to toe in sand and obviously distressed, his parents took one look at him and shook their heads. Rather than help and concern, he got a lecture. They didn't believe his story at all. He continued to beg them for help, but to no avail. Eventually, getting impatient, Dean fled the house to head back to the quarry, hoping that Thomas parents hadn't been so ignorant. He arrived shortly to find Thomas, his parents and several neighbors digging furiously through the sand. After several minutes, the boys bodies were found amongst the sand, completely limp. It was too late. Ambulances came and officers got details from Dean and Thomas. The two surviving boys never spoke again after the accident. Dean was never given any of the support or resources he needed to deal with the traumatic events that day. He lost his best friends in an instant and has never truly found closure. It was early April and I had just gotten home from a long day of shopping. I decided to get some dinner and watch videos on my phone for a while. A couple hours passed and I decided I was bored and asked my parents.

[Dean]

If I could go on a walk.

[Narrator]

By this time it was almost 7:30pm and it was starting to get dark outside. But I thought why not since it.

[Dean]

Would be a short walk.

[Narrator]

I grabbed my phone and headed down the stairs and out the door.

[Dean]

I decided I would walk up a.

[Narrator]

Hill near my house certain that I would be back down before it was pitch black outside. This hill had a one lane road.

[Dean]

Going up it with close to four foot tall grass on the side. Halfway up the hill I realized I.

[Narrator]

Had underestimated how dark it was going to get because by this time I could barely see 10ft in front of me because after all a phone flashlight isn't very far ranged. I reached the top of the hill and looked at my phone for a minute. Realizing it was at 20%. I turned to start back down the.

[Dean]

Hill, but as I did I saw.

[Narrator]

A person walking with a flashlight up the hill. The person started waving the flashlight around in circles. I thought the person might be trying to get my attention, so I waited at the top for them to catch up to me.

[Dean]

But as they got closer I realized.

[Narrator]

The mistake I had made. Now I am not the type of person to judge, but this person was really scary looking. They had frizzy dark hair, a heavy coat on. Mind you, it was close to 70 degrees Fahrenheit outside and long baggy pants. But what freaked me out the most was the sound they were making. They made a weird humming sound, but it sounded like they had their tongue on the roof of their mouth.

[Dean]

It was a low sound.

[Narrator]

I was getting really nervous at this point so I decided I wasn't going.

[Dean]

To wait for them.

[Narrator]

I started walking along the road again hoping I could find another road to walk onto. The My plan was to find another road and then sprint home. After they got up the hill and I could see them again, they screamed at me. It wasn't a word though, just gibberish. I started walking faster because at this point it was totally pitch black outside besides this person's light and I could barely see because I turned my phone off to preserve the battery life. Finally I saw a trail going into a patch of trees. I ran towards it. The person must have seen me start running because they picked up their pace.

[Dean]

I was being chased.

[Narrator]

The trail started going downhill and I could see some dim streetlights at the bottom. The person kept running after me only to get faster as the trail headed down. After about five seconds of running, I hear the person grunt loudly only to realize they had fallen. Their flashlight rolled down the hill. I didn't care. I just ran until I got back on a road. I eventually made it back home and told my parents what had happened. They scolded me and called me selfish because I didn't see if the person needed my help.

[Dean]

But what they failed to realize is.

[Narrator]

If they really needed help, they would have said something instead of chasing me. Now I refuse to walk alone at night and I highly recommend that you don't either. You never know who you might meet on a dark road. I am a mail carrier here in California. A Big part of my job is delivering Amazon packages and as you can imagine, my workload has increased significantly during the last year or so. As per usual, this has increased the number of strange encounters I have had. My current route for the past six months led me through multiple subdivisions of large beautiful homes, like swimming pools with hot tubs in every backyard. Given the past year, I have noticed people, mainly older folk, have really taken to coming outside to talk to me across their yards. I don't mind it all, but try to keep it short so I don't fall behind on deliveries. One of my favorite residents is an older lady who I will call Mrs. Lythgoe for the sake of this story. She must be well into her 70s and loves to chat about everything going on in the neighborhood. It's not unusual for her to report back that so and so has left their lawn unattended for two months or.

[Dean]

That they have strange visitors at odd hours.

[Narrator]

I usually just nod and smile. The house across the street from Mrs. Lythgoe was only listed for sale for a few days when it was purchased really quickly. Shortly thereafter, my truck began to fill up with Amazon packages for Whoever lived there. Mrs. Lythgoe noticed right away and told me a week later that the packages would stay in their pile until nighttime and then will have disappeared by morning. This this didn't seem strange to me at the time. Mrs. Lithgow became further concerned and began.

[Dean]

Telling me that there always seemed to.

[Narrator]

Be a lot of screaming coming from the house later in the evening. I hadn't heard anything, but my deliveries were always earlier in the morning. My first strange encounter was dropping off a stack of packages. I had loaded my arms way higher than I'm supposed to and was waddling up the path. I felt my foot hit something hard and thought I felt it break. I set the stack down and to.

[Dean]

My horror realized I had kicked a.

[Narrator]

Bag of garbage that had fallen open. Sticking out of the top was a jar with what looked like blood inside. It was leaking onto the hot stone path and as soon as I had stopped the smell was unbearable. I also noticed that there was a creepy doll in the bag. I quickly finished my delivery and got out of there. I thought about calling the police, but honestly I was afraid to, so I talked myself out of it. Mrs. Lythgoe approached me a few weeks later telling me that she had finally met the homeowner after the whole bottle incident. I was pretty interested to know who lived there. Mrs. Lythgoe said it was a petite pink haired woman who said she was living there with her autistic charge. Mrs. Lythgoe thought it was so strange that this young woman lived there alone with this other person, but no one was ever seen coming or going. I chalked it up to the virus and went on with my day. Mrs. Lythgoe, however, did not. The next day she came racing to.

[Dean]

The side of the road.

[Narrator]

I had to remind her to stay six feet away, but she was shouting that there had been an incident. Apparently the woman living in the house and the man she cared for had been spotted outside in the backyard. Kids were playing a few houses down and came running in yelling that the autistic man had threatened to kill them. After yelling at them, do you know who I am? I'll admit I wanted to know more but didn't have the time to ask questions. Another time she told me that pink smoke had billowed out of the house and two people came running out screaming. After that, I didn't see Mrs. Lythgoe as she had left town to visit one of her kids. The house stayed quiet and I continued.

[Dean]

To leave stacks and stacks of packages there.

[Narrator]

I began to notice that the names on the packages were often different. Lots of times just being fat goblin and other weird things. I once ran into two electricians leaving the house. As I passed them, one of them.

[Dean]

Said, that house is full of cat feces.

[Narrator]

Full of it. When my route was slightly altered so their address was. Later in the day I also started to hear the yelling that I think Mrs. Lythgoe had been referring to. It definitely was a grown man and he was constantly yelling almost incoherent things.

[Dean]

Like me cause crying.

[Narrator]

At first I thought he might have been yelling at me, but several times I noticed he was yelling before I even approached the house. I thought maybe it was linked to his diagnosis. Honestly, none of these occurrences were that weird to me, given some of the other experiences I have had. A few weeks ago, I had to deliver a package that required a signature. I had never actually seen anyone there myself, but I knocked anyways. I heard a small shriek and shuffling about. Concerned, I walked toward the side of the house, but still in front, and yelled, uh, hello. I need a signature for a package here. The shuffling continued. I went back to the front door to knock one last time and to leave a note letting them know where they could pick it up. I suddenly heard loud and fast stomping from inside the house. I peeked into the glass of the door to see if someone was coming. It was a stocky man dressed in a spandex suit from head to toe. He was holding some kind of weapon and waved it in the air. I stepped back in shock. I froze just for a second, long enough to hear him yell, you're not safe here. That was enough to get me moving again. I turned and began to run. As I raced down the driveway and back into my truck, I could now fully see the man holding his weapon yelling I kill.

[Dean]

I took off.

[Narrator]

I called my supervisor immediately but was told there is nothing we can do about it because technically I was on his property and he never directly threatened me.

[Dean]

I still think I should have called the police.

[Narrator]

I began leaving the packages at the end of their driveway and have not heard or seen anyone in that house again on the morning of March 20, 2021, I saw a post online stating that the Boeing X37B Orbital Test Vehicle would be visible in the night sky over the northern United States and southern Canada. I have never really been that interested in space, to be honest, but I do enjoy stargazing from time to time and it was a clear night so I decided to head out into the hills to try and catch a glimpse of the craft. I tried to convince my boyfriend to come with me, but he was too busy playing Fortnite or whatever shooter game was popular at the time. I threw an old lawn chair into the back of my new Toyota tacoma and drove 15 minutes outside of town to where I knew there was a lookout. It was at the end of a long dead end dirt road that went up the backside of a ski hill and came out into a large open area that overlooked part of the resort, but more importantly gave an incredible view of the stars. I was hoping that no one else would be up there since it was the closest thing we had to a lover's lane where teenagers would go to fool around in their parents car cars. Fortunately, I got lucky that night as the little parking area was completely deserted. I set up my lawn chair on the grass a few feet away from my truck and gazed up at the beautiful night sky. Even with the almost full moon lighting up the night, there was an incredible amount of stars visible. It was almost overwhelming, especially considering I really had no idea what I was even looking for. I was assuming that I wouldn't actually be able to see the craft itself and that it would just be some moving lights in the sky, but I didn't know for sure. Every plane passing overhead gave me a little rush until I realized what it was. Finally, 8:45pm rolled around exactly when the post online said it would appear and there it was, coming over the horizon from the west, this glowing orb of light moving quickly across the night sky. It had a flat, a faint ring around it, kind of like the full moon often gets on a clear night, and I knew right away it had to be the craft. I tried to snap a few pictures, but of course phone cameras can never capture the true beauty of the night. After about five minutes it had disappeared off to the east and I was getting cold. So I decided to head home and packed up my chair and got back into my truck. A funny thing about the new Toyota Tacomas is that they come with a GoPro mount on the windshield just to the right of the rear view mirror. I guess Toyota finally noticed that these trucks are almost exclusively purchased by outdoor adventure seekers. I am no exception to that and sometimes liked to record footage of my drives on scenic back roads on my way to and from a mountain biking trail to add to the video. Oftentimes though, this meant that I would get home and leave the camera on my windshield. Well, this time apparently was no exception because as I got back in the truck I noticed the camera sitting there next to my mirror and laughed to myself that I had done it again. Then I noticed something strange. The camera was on and the little red recording light was blinking. Normally if I left my GoPro in the truck or even unattended somewhere in the house, the battery would just die, die. And I definitely didn't turn the camera on, so this was really weird. I was curious though, as to whether or not the camera picked up anything since it was a rather bright night out and my truck was pointed in roughly the right direction that it might have picked up the craft coming over the horizon. I pulled up the GoPro app on my phone to have a look at the footage and was expecting to see some of the drive there, but the video started with the truck already parked at the lookout. I wasn't in the shot sitting in my lawn chair, so it was pretty much just a shot of the sky. I saw briefly what I believed to be the craft in the corner of the video, but it was hard to tell on such a small screen with terrible video quality due to the low light conditions. I was about to turn the video off when I noticed movement off to the right. A large dark shape that I couldn't quite make out was moving towards the truck. As it got closer, I could see it more clearly as it was above the horizon on the video, so it was silhouetted against the bright night sky. It was a Huge animal. Based on its height, it had to have been at least 8ft tall on its hind legs. I couldn't tell if it was horns or ears protruding from its head, but it definitely had something on top. It turned its head and I caught a flash of red in its eyes.

[Dean]

As it it did.

[Narrator]

And then it disappeared from the video. That was all I could take. I started the truck and peeled out down the dirt road, sending gravel everywhere as I went. I had been sitting out there, mere feet away from this creature without even knowing it was there. I kept expecting it to leap out of the trees any second and flip my truck with its massive arms or something, but it didn't. Every little shadow my headlights came cast on the trees made me jump. Thinking it was the animal, I just couldn't get that image of its silhouette out of my mind. I made it to the main road and flew back towards town, doing well above the speed limit. And when I got back to the house, my heart felt like it was going to explode. My boyfriend was obviously quite concerned when he saw me walk into the house in tears and asked me what was wrong. I could barely string a sentence together and told him to have a look at the video. I handed him my GoPro and my phone and he tried to get it to work but couldn't. He pulled the SD card out and put it into his laptop, and while he was doing that, I calmed down enough to somewhat describe what had happened. To my dismay, when he tried to pull up the video, the footage was all corrupted. Some skiing footage from the winter still left on. That card was fine, but the one clip clip I needed to prove my story was gone. My boyfriend said it was probably just a bear since they have been known to walk on their hind legs and showed me several videos of bears doing just that. Even that's not exactly a comforting thought, but unfortunately, I don't think it was a bear anyway. All the videos he showed me of bears walking on two legs looked almost comical since they really do look more like a human in a bear suit than a real bear. The way they move is rather clumsy, in stark contrast to the very smooth and methodical movements of the beast that I had seen. The silhouette also didn't look the same, but without the video footage to directly compare and only my panicked memory to go on, who knows what it truly was? All I know is I definitely will not be venturing out into the woods alone at night ever again. I firmly believe that no technical error with my GoPro could have possibly turned it on at that exact right moment to capture the Beast. And that whatever the Beast was, it must have had something to do with the camera turning on. And I also believe it had something to do with the corrupt footage. It didn't want me to be able to prove its existence, but it definitely wanted me to see it and to know that it was watching me. Possibly as a warning not to trespass on its territory again.

[Dean]

I am a 27 year old man from Dallas, Texas, and as far back as I can remember, I have always had some sort of weird intuition about things, places, etc. My mom even says as a kid I used to sleepwalk. She would tuck me into bed, go through the bathroom to my sister's room. Hers and my bedroom were connected through the bathroom at that time. And she said that when she would get to the stairs, there I would be just standing there staring at her, very unaware of anything.

[Narrator]

Other times she said she would wake.

[Dean]

Up and I would be standing next to her bed just staring at her. But that's just a little backstory. When I was 24, I'm 27 now. I had just gotten into a relationship with my now ex boyfriend who is.

[Narrator]

Still my best friend.

[Dean]

We had been at my place chilling and hanging out, having a great time and he had gotten up to use the bathroom while I stayed on the couch trying to find something else to watch. And while he was in the bathroom, I suddenly started noticing the lights begin to flicker. Now, to any normal person this is no big deal really. And it wasn't really to me at first either. That is until I began to hear what sounded like my mother's voice calling my name from what sounded like outside my front door coming up the stairs. I looked at my phone and saw that it was 12:30 at night and started to panic a little about what she could possibly be coming to tell me so late. So I got off the couch to let her in before she could knock. But when I opened the door, she wasn't there. She wasn't coming up the stairs. I went to the outside balcony and her car wasn't even outside.

[Narrator]

My boyfriend came out of the bathroom.

[Dean]

And asked me what I was doing with the door open and I told him I thought I heard my mom. He responded, confused.

[Narrator]

This late.

[Dean]

We both chuckled and sat back on the couch to watch a movie. But I remember I wasn't feeling comfortable anymore. It was about 2am when my boyfriend and I decided to call it a night. I walked him out the door, kissed him good night, and before he walked down to his car. He turned and looked at me sort of puzzled and said, be safe. Now. This may not seem weird or eerie, but the thing about it was I was at my home. We usually would only tell each other when we were leaving the other's house and driving home. And the way he said it, as.

[Narrator]

If he was absolutely terrified that this.

[Dean]

Was the last time that we would see each other. I told him I will watched him get into his car and drive away. I went back into my apartment and immediately went to my room to go to bed. I laid down and turned on an episode of Golden Girls. I began to feel myself drifting off to sleep and eventually just fell asleep. While I was sleeping, I kept feeling feeling like someone was entering my room. I kept sensing my bedroom door opening and closing and someone just hovering watching me. I found myself not being able to wake up and see what was actually going on, but also knowing it wasn't an episode of sleep paralysis, which I have also experienced. The final time I sensed my door opening, a figure popped into my head and was standing in my room. At first I couldn't make it out, but then my mind cleared and it was Scar from the Lion King. At least the head was scar. He was wearing a black suit and had human legs and glowing red eyes. He stood in my doorway. He flicked out one of his claws on his paw like you do a switchblade in an old movie and I remember it being a really loud flick. He licked his lips and said, rest now, young one. After that, I just remember being awoken by my phone ringing. It was my mom. I answered, groggy and still half asleep to her asking, are you okay? Something told me to call and check on you. I sat up and realized it was daylight outside. I looked down at the phone and also saw that it was 12:30 in the afternoon. I rubbed my eyes and said I.

[Narrator]

Was fine, just trouble sleeping.

[Dean]

I then asked had she come by my place last night at all? And she said I was going to, but I decided to head home instead. How did you know? I lied and told her I didn't just asked. Now call me paranoid or crazy, but as soon as I moved out of that apartment, I had actually forgotten about this whole ordeal until my ex asked me recently, do you remember that time your mom came over at like midnight? It actually sent chills down my spine when the whole night came flooding back to me. Scar has only come back twice since I have moved and sometimes randomly I can still hear the flick of his nail. Lion King nightmares.

[Narrator]

They are the worst.

[Dean]

I live in a rather rural area, the kind of place where you both know what to expect and don't know what to expect. People here tend to be latched onto the older way of thinking and living, and I'm all for that. That being said, it is easy to assume that nothing much happens here, at least nothing that would really raise any red flags. The thing is, about five years ago something abnormal did happen. Five years ago I thought I was going to lose my life due to a case of wrong place, wrong time in the parking lot of an all you can eat buffet. I was in middle school at the time and was having one of the.

[Narrator]

Worst schools years yet.

[Dean]

Luck didn't seem to be on my side, so of course this day wouldn't be any different. My family, grandpa, mom and little sister had gone to church that morning and had taken my friend and her younger sister as well. Once it was over, my mom decided that we would treat ourselves to an early lunch and headed over to a local all you can eat buffet. It was a humble place and the atmosphere of the farm around it was peaceful. It lulled you into a sense of security. We were waiting in the lobby area, sitting on a bench when two women came in. They both seemed to be in their 40s. The taller woman was obviously the leader of the two and the shorter woman seemed to hang back letting the other do the talking, chiming in here and there. The taller woman was gushing over how adorable my sister was to her. She was in elementary school at the time and kept saying how she looked like a princess. We thought she was just an overly expressive and nice woman and left it.

[Narrator]

At that as we walked to our.

[Dean]

Table and got settled in. Fast forward and we are eating dessert. I had gotten my usual, that being a mixed vanilla and chocolate ice cream topped off with oreo bits, caramel and two marshmallows covered in chocolate from the chocolate fountain. Yes, I know I kinda went overboard, but whatever. I was a kid.

[Narrator]

I was about 3/4 of the way.

[Dean]

Done with my dish when the two ladies suddenly appeared at our table. I immediately thought it was odd that they deliberately searched us out in there but kept eating. The lead woman got to talking about herself and revealed she was a church official. She claimed to work in a sort of crisis center at her church located in Delaware. Her friend I cannot remember whether she actually told anything about herself, but if she did, none of us can recall it. They then told my mom and grandpa that they had a gift for my sister and I admit I was kind of jealous upon hearing that of course she was getting a gift. The woman pulled some letters out of her purse and showed them to my mom and sister. She told us that she was pen pals of the sort of with Princess Kate.

[Narrator]

I later would learn from my mom.

[Dean]

That the letters were basically automatic replies, not actual letters from Kate herself. So nothing special really. It's like the equivalent of getting the answering machine to a secretary in the mall. But nonetheless, my mom went along with it. Then, to my surprise, the woman said she had a gift for me. But unlike the gift from my sister, which had been in her purse, she said mine was in her car. Red flags immediately went up in my head. There was no way I was going with this random lady alone out to her car. My mom, to this day I have no idea what she was thinking, told her that I could go so long as my grandpa went with me. My grandpa gave my mom a what are you talking about? Why should we go with them? Look and turn to me. I hesitated, but we walked out with the two women. At this point, knowing the head woman was a church official, I figured she was going to give me a Bible or something. My grandpa, in his late 50s, seemed uneasy and stuck close to me. As we approached the car, I saw that it was in fact not a car at all. It was a van. A white van. Cliche, I know, but it's the truth. We followed the two women over and the leader walked over to the passenger side. We were right behind her, but had failed to notice. The other woman lagged behind and placed herself between us and the exit between the van and the other car. The lead woman was in front of us, meaning we were boxed in. No way out. The leader unlocked her doors and pulled open the sliding doors, ducking inside. My grandpa seemed to tense up, his eyes darting around. He had noticed the other woman was blocking us off and was on edge. He had a bad feeling about this and was fully prepared to fight these women to save me if need be. Then something that I never would have dreamed of happened. The woman, after rummaging around in her van, emerged wielding a sword. And not some fake prop sword that you get at Party City or something. A legit sword, glinting in the gray autumn light, its hilt adorned with details and jewels. I just about crapped my pants. I thought this was the end.

[Narrator]

I was going to die by the.

[Dean]

Blade of some psychotic church official in the parking lot of a rural buffet. My grandpa's eyes went wide and I saw his hands clenched into fists and he prepared to knock this woman out this seemed to go in slow motion, taking forever, but was only a few seconds. And then as my life flashed before my eyes, this woman asked us what our names were. The sword was still in her hand, but she didn't swing it at us. I was terrified thinking this woman was the kind of killer who likes to know her victim's name. Before doing the deed. I told her my name. She then performed a small ceremony, reciting some religious statements and lowered the blade to touch both of my shoulders one at a time. She then brought it down to my head and raised it, bringing it in front of herself straight into the air and proclaimed me Sir, Insert my name. A knight of God. She asked the same of my grandpa and and after getting his name, did the same for him.

[Narrator]

She told us that she hoped we.

[Dean]

Liked our gifts and still shell shocked, we thanked her and my grandpa and I left the two women. We speed walked inside, found our table and proceeded to fill my mom in on what just happened. She didn't believe us at first, but we soon convinced her. My grandpa and I both scolded her for making us go out with these women. My grandpa was especially angry. If that woman had other intentions with that sword, we would both be dead. The women didn't come back over to us and oddly enough, we didn't see them when leaving. We never saw those women again. And suffice it to say, I'm glad they weirded me out and I just hoped they went back to Delaware where they belonged. Maybe they could knight other random strangers along along the way. It's been half a decade now since my grandpa and I were proclaimed knights. My close friends sometimes refer to me as sir, which I find funny. I never let my mom live that down either, prodding her about it whenever I get the chance. All in good fun of course. It's also a fantastic story to tell people and get them interested in you. And no one I have met has been able to top me when we get to sharing now. One last thing has always lingered in the back of my mind, something that still unsettles me to this day. About two weeks prior to this event, there had been some beheadings a few states over that had made the news. It makes me wonder, could it have been those two women? Was I knighted by a murderer?

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